also so much more expensive. If you want a damn good machine for cheap, the LCD steamdeck is great

There are plenty of people who will be happy to get one for $300. When I was young, that would have been serious money for me.

Probably why they’re on sale.

Tbf, they sold the Steam Controller for a while, and eventually dropped the price to $5 just to clean out the rest of their stock- and that was the end of a product line instead of the older, cheaper version of a current product.

Alternatively, they may have realized that some people who want the Steam Deck but cannot afford it justify the OLED model as their first handheld PC would most likely go to a competitors' product instead, or write off handheld PCs as unattainable due to cost.

For my part, I was on the fence about the LCD model when it came out because I didn't think I'd have enough use case scenarios to justify the initial cost, and only after someone I know upgraded to the OLED and gifted me their old LCD model did I actually find out what I was missing out on. Now that I've had one for the better part of a year, I can say that the LCD model works for my needs.

If I had any complaints, it's that the touchpad is too low in its position and too square for me to comfortably use for FPS games, and the select & start buttons are placed in such a way that I have to reach my thumb over their respective analog sticks just to reach, which feels awkward sometimes; I feel that the touchpad and analog stick positions should've been swapped- though iirc the OLED has the same form factor, so it's not an issue exclusive to the LCD model. I'm also coming from the perspective of a Steam Controller fan, too, which to me is nearly perfect as a controller. (I only wish the left pad was just a dedicated d-pad, better analog emulation when using keyboard inputs, and as many back paddles as the Steam Deck.)

I think these are just old stock they're selling off.